August 2017 Running Challenge
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@MNLittleFinn and @kristinegift My favourite is 6x800m. 400m intervals are just so short, I feel like I have to really sprint, and then it wipes me out. With 1600m, it gets hard to keep the pace up consistently until the very end. Plus 12 repetitions are so many that it starts to get complicated to keep track of how many I didMNLittleFinn wrote: »kristinegift wrote: »MNLittleFinn wrote: »@MobyCarp I ran 12x400 with 200m recovery at ~1:51(7:27 pace) per interval, with a hammer drop to 1:38 for the last interval. It actually felt pretty easy Slowest interval was the first at 1:55. Had a 1 mile warm up in z1 and a 1 mile cool down in z1. My 5k PR last november was a 7:31 pace, for reference.
I'm going with Ian Torrence's notion that doing speedwork, while good for all around fitness also pays dividends for Long distance in increast VO2 max and such.... I kind of felt like today's workout was too easy, I felt GREAT after I was done.
@MNLittleFinn That is why 12x400 is one of my favorite workouts. It's fun to go fast and not feel totally wiped out afterward!! I'm hoping my friend's Hanson plan has another one on the agenda before our race in October (I'm not DOING Hanson's... just doing all her Hanson's workouts with her).
I'll admit, I really thought that 12x400 was going to wipe me out. Very pleasantly surprised at how good it felt. The last rep at 1:38 made me wonder if I could have gone faster, since even on thr last one, dropping 12 seconds from my my rep time didn't feel like anything.
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The other picture from our run last night. A toast to our friend ( Lady in Blue in the center ) on her last outing with us before she moves to her new job.
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MNLittleFinn wrote: »@MobyCarp I ran 12x400 with 200m recovery at ~1:51(7:27 pace) per interval, with a hammer drop to 1:38 for the last interval. It actually felt pretty easy Slowest interval was the first at 1:55. Had a 1 mile warm up in z1 and a 1 mile cool down in z1. My 5k PR last november was a 7:31 pace, for reference.
I'm going with Ian Torrence's notion that doing speedwork, while good for all around fitness also pays dividends for Long distance in increast VO2 max and such.... I kind of felt like today's workout was too easy, I felt GREAT after I was done.
In the terms I think of, you set out to run 12x400 at I pace (McMilan cruise interval), and ran the last one closer to R pace (McMilan speed intervals). With the intervals as short as 400, that ought to feel pretty easy. Do 8x800 at the same pace, and it will be a lot more challenging. Or if you tried to do 12x400 all at the pace you ran the last one, the workout should really kick your butt.
There is speed work, and there is speed work. Much of it should be controlled speed work, like the 12x400 you ran. You *can* run a 400 faster, but the point is to run them *consistently*. I'm not sure what the physiological benefits are, but mentally this prepares you to hold a sustainable pace in longer races instead of burning out in a sprint at the start.5 -
Thanks @MobyCarp I was actually thinking of maintaining that pace and increasing the interval lengths like you mentioned.
My tboughts were to try to increase the distance I can run thr 400 currently, since it feels food and is roughly analogous to my 5k pace.
Ultimately, in the real long run, I'd like to get to doing like 4x1200-1600 at 5k pace, but I have no illusions about that really happening.0 -
Non-running update: Day 2 of ankle sprain. I could run 10 paces today, but that was sufficient to show that I shouldn't be doing any real running. Walking doesn't hurt as much as yesterday, but the ankle still likes it gentle and short.
Went to club practice to check in with Coach and teammates on status and the question marks about my running the Flint Mile a week from tomorrow. It's cool on that front; if I think I'm healthy enough to run a mile race, I get in my car a week from today and drive to Michigan. If I don't, I stay home and drop a few texts letting folks know I'm bailing out.
In regards to the speed work discussion, I paid attention to the workouts on the board at practice. They are illustrative of different types of speed work to prepare for different goals.
For the Rochester Mile (2 days away):
1 x 800 at T (lactic threshold)
2 sets of (400, 200, 200) at R w/full recovery (n.b. "R" is like McMilan speed interval pace)
For the Flint Mile (8 days away):
1 x 800 at T
2 sets of (600, 400, 200) at R with 400 recovery
4 x 200 at R with 200 recovery
General preparation for 5K cross country:
1 x 800 at T
2 x 2000 at T
4 x 200 at R with 200 recovery
For a 10 mile race (Hap Crim 10 mile, 9 days out) or longer race further out:
1 x 800 at T
3 miles at MP
1 mile at T
2 miles at MP
1 mile at T
1 mile at E (as in "easy")
The point of this: Coach likes the 800 at T to really warm you up before a challenging speed workout. It helps you have a better workout when you get to the R pace that follows it for the mile race workouts, and prepares you to start the first 2000 solid for the 5K workout.
You run more at faster paces to prepare for a shorter race, but the difficulty of the workout decreases as you get closer to race day. 5K and longer has a lot of T pace to build endurance. The mile race workouts have a lot of R pace to improve form and endurance at speed for relatively short distances. The really long interval workouts for true distance races vary paces to a) improve endurance, b) simulate tired legs without actually running enough miles to get beat up, and c) mentally prepare the runner for the idea that you keep running when you're tired, and you can run fast again after you've slowed down.
There wasn't any workout with I pace (like McMilan cruise intervals) today; some weeks that pace is prominent. But that's usually when the club is gearing up for a major 5K or 10K event, and those are further out than what we're focusing on right now.2 -
MNLittleFinn wrote: »Thanks @MobyCarp I was actually thinking of maintaining that pace and increasing the interval lengths like you mentioned.
My tboughts were to try to increase the distance I can run thr 400 currently, since it feels food and is roughly analogous to my 5k pace.
Ultimately, in the real long run, I'd like to get to doing like 4x1200-1600 at 5k pace, but I have no illusions about that really happening.
It's quite possible. You build on past success, week by week. A sample progression might look like this.
Week 1: 4x800 at I
Week 2: 4x1000 at I
Week 3: The "I pyramid", 1x800, 1x1000, 1-2x1200, 1x1000, 1x800 all at I
Week 4: 2 x (1000, 1200, 1000) at I
Long workouts at I typically allow "same time" recovery, i.e. if you ran 800m in 3:40, you'd get 3:40 recovery before starting the next interval.
That's about as much I pace as I get on the marathon training schedule; after that the distances get longer and the pace slows to T, e.g. 2x2 miles at T with 2 minutes recovery, then a week alter 2x3 miles at T with 3 minutes recovery. If you want to focus on faster, there's no reason you couldn't progress to 3-4 x 1200, then 3-4 x 1600 at I pace, as long as you cut back after some of the hard stuff to give your body some recovery. But you might not see a whole lot of benefit from pushing the speed work that hard if your main goal is running trail ultras.
Really, by the time I've done the Week 4 workout above and a 3 x 2 miles at T in the same training cycle, I start to wonder why guys fade 3 miles into a 4 mile race or 2 miles into a 5K. This stuff really helps the stamina for those short races.2 -
01 Aug – 8 km
04 Aug – 34 km – marathon ready!
07 Aug – 9.3 km in the rain
08 Aug – 7.1 km including a few sprints
09 Aug – 6 km
11 Aug – 5.8 km
12 Aug – 10.1 km including my 75th parkrun
15 Aug – 14.5 km
18 Aug – 8.1 km
Goal: Run my first marathon on August 27So, while in general shorter intervals tend to be run faster than longer intervals, it's not a simple formula of X length implies Y pace. There is considerable overlap. My standard joke that I tell to 5K runners is that from a marathon runner's perspective, a 5K is just an interval workout: 4800m at I, plus 200m at R.
@MobyCarp It weirds me out when I see people's training plans for intervals, because my marathon pace IS my easy run pace.
Is that normal for a first marathon?1 -
Thanks @MobyCarp I might just copy that progression and see where I get with it, getting some leg speed time in won't hurt, and could very well help me with this plateau.
I have 9 weeks until my big race, and if I can work up along that progression roug hoy on schedule, I could be trying to run those long intervals before I'm done and still have several weeks to play with things and taper off for recovery. 6 miles total with the 12x400 wasn't real hard today, so maybe I can reap the benefits of longer Intervals at roughly my 5k pace0 -
01 Aug – 8 km
04 Aug – 34 km – marathon ready!
07 Aug – 9.3 km in the rain
08 Aug – 7.1 km including a few sprints
09 Aug – 6 km
11 Aug – 5.8 km
12 Aug – 10.1 km including my 75th parkrun
15 Aug – 14.5 km
18 Aug – 8.1 km
Goal: Run my first marathon on August 27So, while in general shorter intervals tend to be run faster than longer intervals, it's not a simple formula of X length implies Y pace. There is considerable overlap. My standard joke that I tell to 5K runners is that from a marathon runner's perspective, a 5K is just an interval workout: 4800m at I, plus 200m at R.
@MobyCarp It weirds me out when I see people's training plans for intervals, because my marathon pace IS my easy run pace.
Is that normal for a first marathon?
Yes. First marathon for most runners is about building the toughness to FINISH. Remember you ALWAYS PR your first Marathon.
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@MobyCarp It weirds me out when I see people's training plans for intervals, because my marathon pace IS my easy run pace.
Is that normal for a first marathon?
@Orphia Completely! My marathons so far have all been the same as my easy run paces (but the last 2 were not on purpose, just days that went from BQ-goal to just-finish-goal). Especially for a first marathon, you want to take it at a pace where you KNOW you can finish, which is going to be the same as your easy/long run pace
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8/1: 7 miles of Track Tuesday
8/2: 7.1 miles easy
8/3: 8 miles "tempo run"
8/3: 6.3 miles group run
8/4: Rest day
8/5: 6 miles
8/6: 16 miles
8/7: 6 miles group run + lift/strength
8/8: 7 miles Track Tuesday
8/9: 5 miles + lift/strength
8/10: 6.8 miles "tempo Thursday"
8/10: 6.1 mile
8/11: Rest day
8/12: 6.4 miles
8/13: 15.8 miles
8/14: 3.2 miles
8/15: 9.4 miles of Track Tuesday
8/16: 5 miles
8/17: 8 miles "tempo run"
8/17: 7.4 miles
8/18: Rest day, hallelujah
136.5 miles of 250 goal miles
I was going to try to make up some of the tempo miles at my group run tonight but HAHA NOPE. I added 2 miles to the front of the run to at least get approximately the same mileage for the day, but I had to cut the last of two group run loops short because my HR kept sky rocketing. It was a tiny bit elevated all day (my resting HR is usually 48-52 and it kept creeping from 55-60 all day), and the heat/humidity this evening didn't help at all; it was still about 80F and 70% humidity because we have storms rolling in tonight. So all in all, it was hot and miserable and I was totally soaked through with sweat and my HR would not stay within a reasonable zone.
So in case anyone was wondering: Yes, I am definitely looking forward to a rest day tomorrow. And then a short run Saturday and a long run with a fast finish Sunday. I think I'm going to add in a second rest day next week and use it as a cutback week. I jumped my mileage from 25-30 miles right up to 51-55 mpw, and I haven't had a cutback week since I started training again 4 weeks ago. My body is definitely giving me "Let me rest, damn it!" signals. I really ought to listen.
Upcoming Races:
Oct 8: Steamtown Marathon
Oct 22: Perfect 10 (10 Miler)
Nov 5: Princeton Half Marathon (pacer)
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8/1/17 - 3.01 miles treadmill before weight lifting.
8/2/17 - 6.13 miles
8/3/17 - 3.03 miles on the treadmill before weight lifting.
8/4/17 - Rest day
8/5/17 - 12.04 miles, rough BG before, during, and after run.
8/6/17 - Rest day; weight lifting
8/7/17 - Rest
8/8/17 - 3.01 miles treadmill before weight lifting
8/9/17 - 6.01 miles, "Race Pace" (not quite) - felt good and indicators for fat adaptation look promising
8/10/17 - Rest (not exercising due to blood tests on 8/11)
8/11/17 - Rest
8/12/17 - Rest (lots of walking at state fair)
8/13/17 - 9.00 miles
8/14/17 - Rest
8/15/17 - 4 miles treadmill before weight lifting. Having electrolyte issues
8/16/17 - 4.85 miles. Still having electrolyte issues
8/17/17 - 4.35 miles treadmill before weight lifting.
Upcoming Races:
9/9/17 - Wabash Trace HM
10/21/17 - Oregon Trail Run HM1 -
On the topic of intervals I found them incredibly beneficial in the shorter races, 5k & 10k, and more of a way to break up the monotony of crushing 55-70 miles a week during marathon training. The longer the race, half & full marathons, it's more about tempo miles in my opinion. I'm not sure 12x400 intevals would get the HR up past where it would need to be for any length of time to have a ton of benefits for marathon's. I looked at @MNLittleFinn hr data on strava and it looks like your hr really never left z3. If you hr threshold is 170ish you'll need to run faster/longer to get into the proper hr zone to have benefits.1
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@5512bf I noticed that too. That's why I was thinking like you said about going faster/longer. Today's run kind of confirmed that, it was as much a test run as anything, I'm going to go longer during next week's intervals to see if that gets my HR up there.
Edit to add, my average HR on the intervals was too low, but max got into the right range, so I'm starting to think upping distance but keeping pace might put me in the right zone.0 -
August Goal: 60 miles
8/1: 4 miles
8/2: 3.1 miles
8/3: 2.2 miles
8/5: kr30dc day 1
8/6: 5.4 miles; kr30dc day 2
8/7: 3.1 miles; kr30dc day 3
8/8: 2.7 miles; kr30dc day 4
8/9: 3.1 miles; kr30dc day 5
8/10: kr30dc day 6
8/11: kr30dc day 7
8/12: kr30dc day 8
8/13: 6.3 miles; kr30dc day 9
8/14: kr30dc day 10
8/15: 3 miles; kr30dc day 11
8/16: 2.5 miles; kr30dc day 12
8/17: 3.2 miles; kr30dc day 13
38.6/60 miles completed
I had a great run tonight. It was almost cool at least for Texas in August. It was 82°F when I started out and by the time I was done it was down to 77°F. There was just enough of a breeze to be pleasant, but not windy. I am still one of the slower runners on here, but I am definitely improving. I ran a loop that is near my house so I didn't have to drive anywhere. After I finished I stopped by the house and picked up the dogs and drove them to the park for a bit. I prefer to walk them at the park instead of the neighborhood because I don't have to worry about loose dogs at the park. Plus the park is well lit and there are usually people there so I feel better being there when it is starting to get dark. They loved it because it was relatively cool. I felt like I could have kept going and they could have too, but it was getting dark so we came on home after a mile.
Tomorrow will just be yoga and then Saturday will be a rest day. That worked out well because tomorrow is my 27th wedding Anniversary so I wouldn't have run any way.
Good luck to all those racing this weekend!
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10 km River Bank Trails. Still feeling the effort of my Emperor's Challenge Race.
Legs were heavy right from the start - so I put myself in LSD mode and just relaxed enjoying the view over the river and the cool air.
08/01 0.0 km – 150.0 km - 0.0 km – YTD 862.57 km
08/01 7.5 km – 142.5 km - 7.5 km – YTD 870.07 km
08/03 14.0 km – 128.5 km - 21.5 km – YTD 884.07 km
08/05 12.0 km – 116.5 km - 33.5 km – YTD 896.07 km
08/12 20.0 km – 96.5 km - 53.5 km – YTD 916.07 km Emperor's Challenge My A Event for the Season
08/16 6.0 km – 90.5 km - 59.5 km – YTD 922.07 km
08/17 10.0 km – 80.5 km - 69.5 km – YTD 932.07 km
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PastorVincent wrote: »01 Aug – 8 km
04 Aug – 34 km – marathon ready!
07 Aug – 9.3 km in the rain
08 Aug – 7.1 km including a few sprints
09 Aug – 6 km
11 Aug – 5.8 km
12 Aug – 10.1 km including my 75th parkrun
15 Aug – 14.5 km
18 Aug – 8.1 km
Goal: Run my first marathon on August 27So, while in general shorter intervals tend to be run faster than longer intervals, it's not a simple formula of X length implies Y pace. There is considerable overlap. My standard joke that I tell to 5K runners is that from a marathon runner's perspective, a 5K is just an interval workout: 4800m at I, plus 200m at R.
@MobyCarp It weirds me out when I see people's training plans for intervals, because my marathon pace IS my easy run pace.
Is that normal for a first marathon?
Yes. First marathon for most runners is about building the toughness to FINISH. Remember you ALWAYS PR your first Marathon.kristinegift wrote: »@Orphia Completely! My marathons so far have all been the same as my easy run paces (but the last 2 were not on purpose, just days that went from BQ-goal to just-finish-goal). Especially for a first marathon, you want to take it at a pace where you KNOW you can finish, which is going to be the same as your easy/long run pace
@PastorVincent @kristinegift Thanks so much!!! That's incredibly reassuring!
I need to get my head around the fact that I need to stick to my very easy run pace, so I can last the distance. I mustn't worry about my time, just about enjoying it and finishing. Listen, brain!!3 -
August goal: 4 x 4
8/1: 4.72 1hr
8/2 4.58 1:01
8/3 rest
8/4 5.26 1:03
8/5 4.10 0:53
8/6 rest
8/7 6.37 1:11
8/8 4.10 1:00
8/9 4.11 0:51
8/10 rest
8/11 4.09 0:48
8/12 4.00 0:50
8/13 rest
8/14 5.88 1:15
8/15 4.26 :56
8/16 snorkel 4hrs- didn't get any really good photos...this is a damselfish by a pencil urchin
8/17 4.10 (walking to save my legs for saturday....)
Total 55.77
Ticker is my goal for 2017 and progress to date:
upcoming races:
Volcano Rainforest Runs 10k 8/19
Hilo Bay 5 and 10k 9/10
BlockThe Sun Run 5k Oct 14 (https://walk.aimatmelanoma.org/Hilo2017) (physical and virtual options available)
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6 Aug 3.15 km (1.95m)
8 Aug PT session
9 Aug 3.71 km (2.30m)
10 Aug PT session
11 Aug rest day
12 Aug 3.69 km (2.29m)
13 Aug 5km (3.1m)
14Aug PT session
15Aug rest day
16 Aug I had every intention of going for a run but ended up making some art.
17 Aug PT session
Goal
15.55km/50km
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A nice trail walk with stretches to get me back into the swing of things
August 9: 5.0 miles
August 10: 4.0 miles
August 11: 6.0 miles
August 12: 0 miles
August 13: 3 miles
August 14: 0 miles
August 15: 1 mile
August 16: 1 mile
August 17: 4 miles
August 18:
August 19:
August 20:
August 21:
August 22:
...
Total miles logged in August: 24.0 miles
Total miles left to go in August: 66 miles3 -
1/8 c25k week1 Day 1 (run 60 walk 90 x 8)
2/8 gym and treadmill run
3/8 open-water swim training
4/8 Collegiate Shag Fiesta dancing!!
5/8 useless failure to attend day 2 of the Shag Fiesta
6/8 Aunt's 80th birthday party. Does washing up 120 wine glasses count as exercise?
7/8 no run, but plenty of walking to sort life out.
8/8 not much
9/8 YAY!!! I ran. Week 2 of c25k
10/8 YAY! I ran. 2.9 miles (teehehee) of gentle running. Swim course - a LOT of swimming
11/8 Aching from swimming. Yoga
12/8 plenty of walking doing odd jobs
13/8 nine miles of walking incorporating five miles of running.
14/8 rest
15/8 the SUN CAME OUT!!! a gentle walk around the harbour
16/8 short run
17/8 open water swim training
18/8 35 minute run with fartleks
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The weather here is doing my head in. Really. One minute it's lovely and sunny, the next it is bitterly cold and chucking it down with rain. I'm fed up, it's August.
Tuesday the sun finally came out and I did the typically British thing whenever we see the sun - I was desperate to get out in it. You heat-complainers don't know what that world is. I had a lovely saunter round the harbourside and met some friends for a delicious goat curry.
I'm continuing with the barefoot run training (or getting used to minimalist shoes). I look like a *kitten*. (seriously MFP? (edited again as I've realised I can magically circumvent the 'kitten'ness by editing the post. Woohoo I got a word past the censor!!!))
Yesterday was my final open-water swim training session. The rain was chucking it down half an hour before I had to leave work, which didn't motivate me at all. It's like running - I don't mind being IN it, I just don't want to go OUT in it. The training was good, I've learnt a lot. And the rain? Wow. treading water in a lake whilst big raindrops fall around you, and you know you can't get any wetter so basically you've WON, fabulous.
amused myself on my run this morning (yup - that's TWICE this week I've ran) by doing some random speedwork. None of this strict distance stuff you guys do, that would mean getting out a tape measure or something. Just leg it to the gate and try not to die. As I hit 7.30 minute pace I found myself thinking - 'this is what it feels like to be @Mobycarp'. The good news is I didn't die. The bad news is I'm a long way off being @Mobycarp but I've got plenty of years left in me to try.
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@girlinahat - I think the kittenness over powered your magic trick... 0
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PastorVincent wrote: »@girlinahat - I think the kittenness over powered your magic trick...
ah. It was there briefly!!! How about the word twot. Do you think that will get through? (I know, I know, it has certain vulgar meanings, but its less vulgar meaning here is 'idiot')0 -
girlinahat wrote: »PastorVincent wrote: »@girlinahat - I think the kittenness over powered your magic trick...
ah. It was there briefly!!! How about the word twot. Do you think that will get through? (I know, I know, it has certain vulgar meanings, but its less vulgar meaning here is 'idiot')
Looks like it.
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@girlinahat "Tuesday the sun finally came out and I did the typically British thing whenever we see the sun - I was desperate to get out in it. You heat-complainers don't know what that world is. I had a lovely saunter round the harbourside and met some friends for a delicious goat curry."
This paragraph took me back to Scotland sooo quick. When I was in school there, i was there two weeks before I saw the sun. Which meant I didn't know where north was for two weeks, which was a strange feeling for me. Especially coming from a world where it rains so rarely as it does. It was of course when the other Wyoming girl and I came out of the shops with our newly acquired wellies and waterproofs that the sun made its first appearance. But that explains my usual timing in a nutshell. But we were soooo excited to see the sun, I actually have a set of pictures in my slew of Scotland pictures... one is literally just an excited picture of our shadows that we didn't realize we had missed, and another is us in front of Stirling Castle in our new wellies with not a cloud or puddle in sight... because apparently we were torn between our excitement over the sun, and our excitement over finally being equipped for the rain....
and curry.... I was just reminiscing about late night chips and curry earlier this week to someone.
Im apparently very wordy and rambley this morning, which I would normally blame on too much coffee, but I haven't even made it that far.... so maybe sleep deprivation and lack of running in my life??3 -
August Goal - 120 Miles
8/1/17 - 4.02 Easy
8/2/17 - 4.15 Easy
8/3/17 - 4.0 Easy
8/4/17 - 4.5 Easy
8/5/17 - 6.0 Easy
8/6/17 - 3.0 Easy - 28.71 Week
8/8/17 - 5.01 Easy
8/9/17 - 5.01 Easy
8/10/17 - 5.01 Easy
8/11/17 - 5.0 Easy
8/12/17 - 7.5 Easy
8/13/17 - 2.51 Easy - 30.04 Week
8/15/17 - 5.01 Easy
8/16/17 - 5.01 Easy
8/17/17 - 5.01 Easy
8/18/17 - 5.02 Easy
Total 75.77 of 120
Bit of a focus on increasing cadence this morning. Looking back i averaged 167 for my marathon last October, and now i'm lucky to get to 155. This is partly due to a concerted effort to keep HR low while adding base miles back to 40-50MPW, and partly because i'm not nearly in the shape i was 10 months ago. I did average 159 today with several of the miles in the low 160's. I think i'll probably need to start adding in some stride work once or twice a week starting next week to get that number heading back to those levels. Still want to completely avoid anything outside of easy paced HR runs for at least another 6 weeks but some 10x20sec strides should help with little added wear an tear on the legs at this point.0 -
@Orphia - Yes, it's normal to run a first marathon at your easy pace. I didn't; got sucked into going with a pacer at a faster pace, and got away with it. The result was that I didn't learn as much from my first marathon as I should have, and that's bitten me a couple of times. Normal marathon runners see faster times for a second marathon than a first, frequently by a wide margin. My first marathon remains my PR.On the topic of intervals I found them incredibly beneficial in the shorter races, 5k & 10k, and more of a way to break up the monotony of crushing 55-70 miles a week during marathon training. The longer the race, half & full marathons, it's more about tempo miles in my opinion. I'm not sure 12x400 intevals would get the HR up past where it would need to be for any length of time to have a ton of benefits for marathon's. I looked at @MNLittleFinn hr data on strava and it looks like your hr really never left z3. If you hr threshold is 170ish you'll need to run faster/longer to get into the proper hr zone to have benefits.
@MNLittleFinn @5512bf - Yes, longer tempo workouts are prominent in my marathon training plan. The distances are longer, and the speed backs down from I pace (5K race pace) to T (lactic threshold) or MP (goal marathon pace). There are a lot of variations, but here's one that pops up a few times with minor variations:
3 miles at E
4 miles at MP
1 mile at T
4 miles at MP
1 mile at T
2 miles at E
That's 15 miles total, and only 5 of them are at an easy pace. It's quite challenging. Here's an easier one:
2 miles at E
10-13 miles at MP
2 miles at E
And there are a lot of variations of X miles easy, Y miles MP, etc. The absolute hardest interval workout I've ever has assigned was:
2 miles at E
4 miles at T
5 miles at E
3 miles at T
2 miles at E
Note that, by definition, you can't run a 4 mile interval at your 5K race pace. Otherwise, it wouldn't be your 5K race pace because you still have another 0.9 mile left in you at that pace after 5K. FWIW, I didn't finish that one. I was compelled to stop after 15 miles last training cycle. This training cycle, it fell in the week with 2 races and I didn't even attempt it.
It really all works together. The shorter, faster stuff works on form and improving VO2 max. The longer stuff works on stamina, both cardio and muscular endurance.
And to the point above, I don't think I've ever run 12 x any interval. The most of the *same* interval I've ever run is 10 x Yasso 800's, and I have my doubts about how much good those do. But they're traditional.3 -
8/1 - Rest/sick day - feeling better, but not sure running would have been good. Hoping for tomorrow.
8/2 - 4.5 miles of hill repeats. Glad I did it, more glad I'm done.
8/3 - 3.5 short miles before getting in the car with the family.
8/4 - Road trip / vacation
8/5 - Road trip / vacation / anniversary
8/6 - 5 miles. Gorgeous morning for a run!
8/7 - 5 miles. Again, beautiful morning!
8/8 - 5 miles. Another nice morning!
8/9 - 4.6 miles of hill repeats with group. I am soooo tired and sleepy today.
8/10 - 4.4 treadmill miles / trek class. Then upper body weights/abs.
8/11 - Rest day because I have to.
8/12 - 6.6 mile group run. Perfect weather.
8/13 - 2.3 treadmill miles. Then quick upper body weights.
8/14 - 5.3 miles track / intervals.
8/15 - 5 miles. Another relatively cool, delightful morning to run.
8/16 - 4.85 miles of group hill run. Rough, but good.
8/17 - Rest day. If I run more than 5 days in a row, bad things tend to happen.
8/18 - 5 miles. Gorgeous morning to run.
2 -
Thanks @MobyCarp due to time constraints, I'm notmally limited to around 10 miles on my runs so, as awesome as that 15 miler would be, I think it's out for now, or at least until I can get to the point where sub-9 is easy, and that Could be a LONG time.
I plugged 8x800 with 400 recovery (that gets me roughly the same time for recovery as the I running) and with a 1 mile WU and 1 mile CD, I get just under 8 miles according to Garmin when I make a workout with it. So, I'm thinking that workouts with repeats in that distance range, or longer but fewer would work out just about right. Thanks again for all the good info.... My inner speed demon and long slogger are fighting again over what kind of runner I should be...LOL2
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